 Milan Gurovic battles with Vassilij Karassev of Russia |
Russia thrashed reigning champions Serbia and Montenegro in their opening game at the European Basketball Championship. Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko scored 29 points as Russia won 95-80 in the first Group C match.
Sacramento Kings player Peja Stojakovic failed to live up to his reputation for Serbia and Montenegro, who trailed 78-69 at half-time and never recovered.
Hosts Sweden went down 99-52 to Spain in the other Group C match.
Lithuania edged Latvia 92-91 in Group B when Sarunas Jasikevicius made two free throws with just seconds left, and in the same group Germany beat Israel 86-81.
In Group A, Olympic silver medallists France eased past Bosnia and Herzegovina 98-76, while Slovenia beat Italy 77-67.
Greece and Turkey are the early pacesetters in Group D. Greece beat Croatia 77-76 after trailing 47-38 at half-time while Turkey got the better of the Ukraine 77-69.
MMIX
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